Of Mwalimu’s statue in Addis Ababa

Mwalimu Julius Nyerere was finally honoured by the African Union (AU) through a new statue at the continental body’s headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

However, the statue generated much discussion, particularly about its resemblance or lack thereof to its subject.

Why do we bother with statues? What purpose do they serve?

Statues have a long history. There was a time when they served a religious purpose. At other times, they had aesthetic value, aimed at representing the beauty of ancient times.

When they made it to politics, they were about representing the power or influence of those honoured.

Former Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe was especially vocal in his calls for the AU to honour Mwalimu'somehow’.

Mugabe argued that for so long, the continent had failed to properly honour Mwalimu’s contribution to emancipating the continent from the chains of colonialism.

He lamented that not much had been done by way of paying tribute to some of Africa’s leading forefathers, and ‘forgetting’ Mwalimu, who he considered had the greatest contribution, was especially ‘ungrateful’.

At other times, he had termed overlooking Mwalimu’s contribution ‘embarrassing’.

There are other leaders on the continent, like Uganda’s long-time ruler, Yoweri Museveni, who has lamented that history has not been just for Mwalimu.

Some have argued that the'second liberation’ wars whose fires burnt through Africa’s Great Lakes region were inspired by Mwalimu’s political philosophy.

Mwalimu’s statue comes almost five years after the passing of Mugabe; as such, it was long overdue.

It is no accident that the project for Mwalimu’s statue came from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), where Tanzania has many ‘political soulmates’.

Depending on the times, statues have been venerated or vilified.

With the present rewriting history or attempting to do so, many statues have been vandalised, removed to be hidden away from view, changed, or renamed to fit the politics of a particular era.

In this regard, the controversy about Mwalimu’s statue is'minor’ compared to what has befallen many other statues of previous political figures.

After all, Mwalimu is not the first subject whose statue leads to controversy or is rejected as not representing the person.

A statue of Zambia’s founding father, Kenneth Kaunda, was rejected because it did not resemble him.

Famous people, from football stars to musicians, have all found themselves the focus of attention because of statues that did not resemble them. At times, the target was way off the mark.

There is a long list of Mwalimu’s statues around the country, which have generated the same discussions and debates as the latest statue in Addis Ababa about their resemblance or lack thereof to Mwalimu.

The two other statues at the AU, those of Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, and Ethiopia’s former emperor, Haile Selassie, did not generate such controversies.

Mwalimu remains a politician like no other in Tanzania.

This year will mark a quarter of a century since he passed away. That means there is an entire generation of Tanzanians who grew up without him, but he has always cast a long shadow over the affairs of the country.

A statue, apart from honouring his legacy, is a way to introduce him to a new generation. In this regard, the outcry about the latest statue of Mwalimu has a lot to do with the living and not the man honoured.

It is more than just a memory of a dead hero or past leader; it is about presenting the past as accurately as possible to the present.

The statue in Addis Ababa, like many others, did not do justice to Mwalimu.

It is especially baffling in this day and age where technology has simplified the tasks of sculptors getting it right when immortalising someone through a statue.

While the AU has finally acquitted itself with the ‘embarrassment’ of forgetting Mwalimu, the statue needs changing.